The reductions of (Nacnac)Ti(III) complexes (Nacnac = (HC(CMeNC6H3(i-Pr)2)2) are examined. Treatment of (Nacnac)TiCl2 with K/Na alloy in the presence of CH2(PPh2)2 afforded the dark red product [K(C(Me)CHC(Me)NAr)Ti(NAr)(μ-H)]2 (2). This Ti(III)-imido-hydride complex is a product of Nacnac ligand cleavage. The Ti(III) species (Nacnac)CpTiCl (3) and (Nacnac)(C5Me4H)TiCl (4) were prepared and characterized. While compound 3 was readily alkylated with n-BuLi to give (Nacnac)CpTiBu (5), reduction of 3 with Na/K gave the dinitrogen complex ((Nacnac)CpTi)2(μ-η2-N2) (6). In contrast, treatment of 4 with t-BuLi or n-BuLi or Na/K amalgam afforded the ligand cleavage product (C5Me4H)[(ArNC(Me)CHC(Me)]Ti(NAr) (7). Compounds 2−7 are crystallographically characterized. The effects of the nature of the ancillary ligands on the course of these reactions are considered.


Abstract:
 Grzesiak, B. & Wolski, G. J. 2015. Bryophilous species of the genus Galerina in peat bogs of Central Poland. — Herzogia 28: 607– 623. Fungi growing on bryophytes or in their close vicinity are referred to as bryophilous fungi. These relationships may be obligate or facultative. Patches of peat bogs are among the most suitable habitats to investigate these relationships. The study aimed to document the co-occurrence of fungi belonging to the genus Galerina and various bryophyte species. The exploration involved six sites representing raised and transitional bogs in Central Poland. The investigation was carried out from 2007 to 2011 on 18 research plots with an area of 10 m². Nine species of fungi were recorded occurring on 21 species of moss. The most fungal species were found on Sphagnum fallax and S. magellanicum.


Patient behaviors are affected by so many factors that makes it is not easy to describe by simple measures. Our approach bases on finding association rules, which is widely used in marketing to identify their customers. We found rules describing complex patient behavior from huge claim dataset and we grouped them into several groups for a better understanding.


Objective To study the expression of sex hormone receptors in human gallbladder cancer. Methods Using immunohistochemistry avidin biotin peroxidase complex(ABC) method, the expression of estrogen receptor (ER)、 progesterone receptor (PR) and androgen receptor (AR) was examined in paraffin embedded sections of gallbladder cancer in 106 cases and 61 benign controls.[WT5"HZ]Results [WT5"BZ]The positive expression rate of ER、 PR and AR in gallbladder cancer was 67%、57% and 44% respectively. The positive rates of sex hormone receptors had significant correlation with pathologic differentiation grade. [WT5"HZ]Conclusion [WT5"BZ]There was significant correlations between sex hormones and the development of gallbladder cancer. Sex hormones might be implicated in the therapy of gallbladder cancer.


When used effectively, health information technology (HIT) can transform clinical care and contribute to new research discoveries. Despite advances in HIT and increased electronic health record adoption, many challenges to optimal use, interoperability, and data sharing exist. Data standardization across systems is limited, and scanned medical note documents result in unstructured data that make reporting on quality measures for reimbursement burdensome. Different policies and initiatives, including the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act, the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act, and the National Cancer Moonshot initiative, among others, all recognize the impact that HIT can have on cancer care. Given the growing role HIT plays in health care, it is vital to have effective and efficient HIT systems that can exchange information, collect credible data that is analyzable at the point of care, and improves the patient-provider relationship. In June 2016, NCCN hosted the Emerging Issues and Opportunities in Health Information Technology Policy Summit. The summit addressed challenges, issues, and opportunities in HIT as they relate to cancer care. Keynote presentations and panelists discussed moving beyond Meaningful Use, HIT readiness to support and report on quality care, the role of HIT in precision medicine, the role of HIT in the National Cancer Moonshot initiative, and leveraging HIT to improve quality of clinical care.


While the etiology and mechanism of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) is not fully understood, immunologic abnormalities play a role in these diseases. Monitoring of disease progression and response to therapeutics is typically invasive and lacking. Increased recruitment of lymphocytes to the gut has been demonstrated in IBD, leading to inflammation and ultimately to gut tissue damage. Lymphocyte circulation is tightly controlled by trafficking receptors (TRs) that act in combination to govern migration to the target organ. Plasmablasts (PBs) are immature circulating B cells that may reflect tissue localized plasma cells. We hypothesize that the PB blood levels and trafficking patterns can inform on the location of tissue damage and the clinical condition of the patients. Using multicolor flow cytometry we examined PB (IgA+/CD38high) and memory B cell (IgA+/CD19+) blood levels, and TRs expressed on these cells. We show that an increase in IgA+ PB blood levels reflect an aggravated clinical state, and a significantly greater amount of these cells in ulcerative colitis patients express colon associated TRs (CCR10+) as opposed to small intestine associated TRs (CCR9+). Additionally, these trafficking patterns are more evident on IgA+ PBs rather than memory B cells. This work in progress suggests that the analyses of the TR phenotype of circulating immature and mature B lymphocytes may provide valuable information for monitoring disease progression via a less invasive process.


The input current harmonics of the rectifier are very harmful. Not only do they reduce the power factor of the AC-DC converter and cause a lot of electrical energy loss, but also damage other devices and pollute the line power system. Measures should be taken to reduce these harmonics. The commonly used method is to design an effective PFC circuit for the AC-DC converter. In this thesis, a Boost APFC circuit will be discussed in detail. This thesis presents a solution to design an appropriate APFC circuit with one Kilowatts output power and make this APFC circuit work satisfactorily from full load to half load scope. In this thesis, a detailed design process will be described for this project, including topology choice, theoretical calculation of the main components values, the determination of the main components for this circuit, circuit simulation and experimental verification. In the end, a concise conclusion will be made and the future improvement for this project will be introduced. Several commonly used control methods for the Active Power Factor Corrector circuit will be compared and then a good method will be chosen for this project. The average current control method is finally decided to use for this circuit and the basic control chip UC3854 is used to build the control circuit for this project. The simulation and the final experimental results all verify that this is an appropriate choice for this project. According to the schematic design and the simulation revision, a test prototype is built to verify the performance. Several tests are implemented and the final experimental results indicate that this circuit design can satisfy the project specification and it is feasible for this project.


The populations of chemolithoautotrophic (colorless) sulfur bacteria and anoxygenic phototrophic bacteria were enumerated in a marine microbial mat. The highest population densities were found in the 0–5 mm layer of the mat: 2.0 × 109 cells cm−3 sediment, and 4.0 × 107 cells cm−3 sediment for the colorless sulfur bacteria and phototrophs, respectively. Kinetic parameters for thiosulfate-limited growth were assessed for Thiobacillus thioparus T5 and Thiocapsa roseopersicina M1, both isolated from microbial mats. For Thiobacillus T5, growing at a constant oxygen concentration of 43 μmol l−1, μmax was 0.336 h−1 and Ks 0.8 μmol l−1. Phototrophically grown Thiocapsa strain M1 displayed a μmax of 0.080 h−1 and a Ks of 8 μmol l−1 when anoxically grown under thiosulfate limitation. In a competition experiment with thiosulfate as electron donor, Thiocapsa became dominant during a 10-h oxic/14-h anoxic regimen at continuous illumination, despite the higher affinity for thiosulfate of Thiobacillus.


In this paper, we introduce AE-FABMAP, a new self-supervised bag of words-based SLAM method. We also present AE-ORB-SLAM, a modified version of the current state of the art BoW-based path planning algorithm. That is, we have used a deep convolutional autoencoder to find loop closures. In the context of bag of words visual SLAM, vector quantization (VQ) is considered as the most time-consuming part of the SLAM procedure, which is usually performed in the offline phase of the SLAM algorithm using unsupervised algorithms such as Kmeans++. We have addressed the loop closure detection part of the BoW-based SLAM methods in a self-supervised manner, by integrating an autoencoder for doing vector quantization. This approach can increase the accuracy of large-scale SLAM, where plenty of unlabeled data is available. The main advantage of using a self-supervised is that it can help reducing the amount of labeling. Furthermore, experiments show that autoencoders are far more efficient than semi-supervised methods like graph convolutional neural networks, in terms of speed and memory consumption. We integrated this method into the state of the art long range appearance based visual bag of word SLAM, FABMAP2, also in ORB-SLAM. Experiments demonstrate the superiority of this approach in indoor and outdoor datasets over regular FABMAP2 in all cases, and it achieves higher accuracy in loop closure detection and trajectory generation.


This article is based on a study of sixty-six dogs in which known myocardial lesions had been produced by the ligation of definite branches of the coronary arteries of the heart. While the experiments were made with the primary object of determining the change in the electrocardiograms brought about by these ligations, other results, anatomic and pathologic, are deemed worthy of brief mention. Method. —Dogs were anesthetized with ether and electrocardiograms taken. The chest was surgically prepared and a tracheal cannula introduced for positive pressure. An incision was made parallel to the sternum at about the left costosternal margin, from the third to the sixth rib, then to the left in the fifth interspace. The flap, including the deep muscle layer down to the ribs, was dissected back. Blunt scissors were pushed through the intercostal muscle in the fifth interspace into the pleural cavity, and this incision was carried from


The school is an institution in which daily manifests itself a multiplicity of situations lived and brought by students, teachers and family, such as disputes, conflicts, friendships, anguishes, fruit of the material and subjective conditions of the subjects. From this finding, came the interest to know the point of view of managers regarding the possibility of Social Work in a school institution, particularly institutions located in 2 (two) rural districts of Londrina, with the purpose of building an intervention methodology based on their expectations. Thus, between 2016 and 2018 visits were made to municipal public schools located in rural districts and interviews with 4 (four) managers of these schools, to attend one of the stages of the Social Work Extension Project in the area of Education, linked to the Department of Social Work, State University of Londrina. This article aims to present the results of the interviews and the proposal of a methodology of intervention of Social Work in schools located in rural regions.


The effects of infection on various aspects of lymphoid function in gnotobiotic dogs with 2 virulent strains of canine distemper virus (CDV), Snyder-Hill CDV and R252-CDV, were compared. Both infections resulted in a viremia-related lymphopenia which was nonselective in that the percentages of B and T cells remained unchanged throughout the observation period. Nonfatal Snyder-Hill-CDV infection resulted in a transient depression of in vitro lymphocyte responses to phytohemagglutinin-P, whereas R252-CDV produced prolonged in vitro suppression of phytohemagglutinin-P stimulation. The differences observed are of minor significance and do not explain the differences in central nervous system demyelinating potential between these 1 strains of CVD.


Recent reports document an increased mortality and morbidity associated with splenectomy for massive splenomegaly (<1000 g), with a morbidity that is 2 to 10-fold higher than that seen for splenectomy for normal size spleens. Preoperative angiographic embolization of the splenic artery has been advocated as a means to decrease this morbidity and mortality. In a retrospective review of 100 splenectomies performed at Kaiser Permanente (Los Angeles, CA), 20 were performed for splenomegaly, average weight 1811 g (1050-3700 g), and 80 were normal sized spleens. Mortality for normal sized spleens is 1.25 per cent, and for those performed for splenomegaly is zero. Likewise, the morbidity for splenectomy of normal sized spleens was 21.25 per cent, but for splenomegaly, a 20 per cent morbidity rate was observed. Average blood loss with splenomegaly was 696 mL, slightly higher than the 600 mL blood loss for normal sized spleens. Sixty-seven per cent of patients with splenomegaly required no transfusion, and none required more than two units. Of patients with normal size spleens, 75 per cent required no transfusion, and 96 per cent required two units or less. Splenectomy for splenomegaly is possible without an increase in morbidity or mortality. In this series, preoperative embolization was not performed; however, the morbidity and mortality rates compare favorably with series in which it was performed. Preoperative embolization of the splenic artery may be unnecessary and may expose the patient to additional expense, risk, and discomfort.


One of the major costs in a software project is the construction of test-data. This paper outlines a generalised test-case data generation framework based on optimisation techniques. The framework can incorporate a number of testing criteria, for both functional and non-functional properties. Application of the optimisation framework to testing specification failures and exception conditions is illustrated. The results of a number of small case studies are presented and show the efficiency and effectiveness of this dynamic optimisation-base approach to generating test-data.


Psammomatous melanotic schwannoma is a rare form of schwannoma that is distinct in terms of presentation, location, and nature compared to other types. This tumor is highly associated with Carney complex, but has also been seen in the neurofibromatosis syndromes. Although discovered over 80 years ago, official management guidelines have not been established. The following review comprises the current understanding of this rare tumor including genetic associations, presentation, imaging, pathology, prognosis, and management.


Purpose
Indoor air quality monitoring is extremely important in urban, industrial areas. Considering the devastating effect of declining quality of air in major part of the countries like India and China, it is highly recommended to monitor the quality of air which can help people with respiratory diseases, children and elderly people to take necessary precautions and stay safe at their homes. The purpose of this study is to detect air quality and perform predictions which could be part of smart home automation with the use of newer technology.

Design/methodology/approach
This study proposes an Internet-of-Things (IoT)-based air quality measurement, warning and prediction system for ambient assisted living. The proposed ambient assisted living system consists of low-cost air quality sensors and ESP32 controller with new generation embedded system architecture. It can detect Indoor Air Quality parameters like CO, PM2.5, NO2, O3, NH3, temperature, pressure, humidity, etc. The low cost sensor data are calibrated using machine learning techniques for performance improvement. The system has a novel prediction model, multiheaded convolutional neural networks-gated recurrent unit which can detect next hour pollution concentration. The model uses a transfer learning (TL) approach for prediction when the system is new and less data available for prediction. Any neighboring site data can be used to transfer knowledge for early predictions for the new system. It can have a mobile-based application which can send warning notifications to users if the Indoor Air Quality parameters exceed the specified threshold values. This is all required to take necessary measures against bad air quality.

Findings
The IoT-based system has implemented the TL framework, and the results of this study showed that the system works efficiently with performance improvement of 55.42% in RMSE scores for prediction at new target system with insufficient data.

Originality/value
This study demonstrates the implementation of an IoT system which uses low-cost sensors and deep learning model for predicting pollution concentration. The system is tackling the issues of the low-cost sensors for better performance. The novel approach of pretrained models and TL work very well at the new system having data insufficiency issues. This study contributes significantly with the usage of low-cost sensors, open-source advanced technology and performance improvement in prediction ability at new systems. Experimental results and findings are disclosed in this study. This will help install multiple new cost-effective monitoring stations in smart city for pollution forecasting.


The article offers the possibility of using video training as one of innovative ways to get acquainted with the linguistic and cultural code of a foreign-speaking society in order to achieve the best result of language training. The article discusses the need to use active teaching methods in higher education. Video method as one of active teaching methods stimulates the cognitive activity of students through emotional perception, develops their ability to connect theory with practice, helps create intercultural competence for the learners to be able to avoid cross-cultural discommunication. The article describes the video method, its theoretical background, the criteria of choosing video resources, as well as its impact on the language learning outcomes. The authors share their experience and give recommendations on applying the video method in the structure of the training session in modern classroom.


Blunt trauma to the head may result in the blunt instrument leaving specific imprints or fracture patterns. Being able to correctly correlate one or more possible blunt instruments with the imprints and fractures of an actual case may be important in police investigations. However, most of our knowledge about blunt instruments and cranial imprints and fracture patterns stems from earlier tests performed on cadavers, or more recently, advanced mechanical and computer- based models. As the former is not feasible ethically, and the latter somewhat demanding in terms of laboratory settings and computer programming. Here we present our results by using a fairly simple model: a coconut shell. Striking a half coconut shell with four different blunt instruments did produce consistent imprinting and fracture patterning, which was also consistent with previously published cases. Also, in a blind trial we were able to correctly exclude one or more blunt instruments as the causative weapon. On the other hand, the blind trial also showed that the coconut is not applicable as a model to positively identify a blunt instrument unless the imprint or fracture pattern has a very characteristic shape.


The enduring dominant influences from Western countries have long been felt in the different spheres of political ideologies, education, financial, technological and intellectual discourses, particularly in Africa. In spite of wide-ranging inequalities, the end of the colonial era has seen a remarkable progress of Third World academic and scientific systems and a significant degree of independence and objectivity. The aim of this article is to analyse language as an impediment to or a resource for, and the dynamics of educational processes towards, the indigenisation of social work education. The authors reviewed and analysed literature as research design. The study adopted the Afrocentricity theory, as it seeks to recreate a historiography that represents and recognises South African cultural influences on human evolution and development. In this article, literature was used to explore the ways in which people use cultural knowledge to inform social work education. The review particularly focuses on language as an impediment to or a resource for the indigenisation of social work education and the dynamics of educational processes. The literature review clarifies that, by virtue of their mainly Eurocentric training, social work educators seldom consider indigenous knowledge of Black South Africans over and above Western-oriented world views, and have neglected the significance of Black South African indigenous knowledge insofar as initiatives towards practice interventions are concerned. Future research should focus on how university policies, material development and dissemination of information can be harmonised to encompass indigenous languages in social work education and training.


Abstract Keeping current is essential for both patrons and librarians in the health sciences. We receive electronic and photocopied tables of contents. We subscribe to relevant mailing lists, newspapers, and magazines. We review Web sites, books, and journals. Our desks are littered with current awareness items that more often get old than read. RSS or "Really Simple Syndication" is a means of organizing and simplifying current awareness efforts. Using RSS feeds from a variety of sources along with aggregator software, librarians can keep up-to-date without the clutter. This article will provide a starting point from which to take advantage of RSS and continue the process of active learning.


Electricity demand traditionally exhibits a substantial peak during a small number of hours each day. Policymakers are aware of the potential efficiency savings that may be generated from a shift in energy consumption away from peak times. Smart meters, in conjunction with time-of-use (TOU) pricing, can facilitate an improvement in energy efficiency by providing consumers with enhanced information about electricity consumption and costs, and thereby encourage a shift away from consumption during peak hours. In 2009-10, the Irish Commission for Energy Regulation (CER) co-ordinated a randomised controlled trial in the Irish residential electricity market. Smart meters, which replaced the existing mechanical meter readers, were introduced in approximately 5,000 households. Participants were divided into control and treatment groups, with treatment groups exposed to a variety of TOU tariffs and information stimuli (in-home display (IHD) units, monthly billing, etc.). Data was collected over approximately 18 months, with the first half year being used as a control period. This paper analyses the response of Irish households to the introduction of TOU tariffs and information stimuli. We examine how households responded to the different TOU tariffs, at different times of the day (peak, day and night) and in conjunction with different information stimuli. Finally, we examine the variation in our results across households of differing socio-economic status (as proxied by education levels). We find that TOU tariffs and information stimuli have a significant effect in reducing electricity consumption in Ireland, particularly during peak hours. However, while households reduce peak demand significantly after the introduction of TOU tariffs and associated information, there is little incremental response to increasing differentials between peak and off-peak prices.


Sequence homology indicates the existence of three human cytosolic acyl protein thioesterases, including APT1 that is known to depalmitoylate H- and N-Ras. One of them is the lysophospholipase-like 1 (LYPLAL1) protein that on the one hand is predicted to be closely related to APT1 but on the other hand might also function as a potential triacylglycerol lipase involved in obesity. However, its role remained unclear. The 1.7 Å crystal structure of LYPLAL1 reveals a fold very similar to APT1, as expected, but features a shape of the active site that precludes binding of long-chain substrates. Biochemical data demonstrate that LYPLAL1 exhibits neither phospholipase nor triacylglycerol lipase activity, but rather accepts short-chain substrates. Furthermore, extensive screening efforts using chemical array technique revealed a first small molecule inhibitor of LYPLAL1.


Ertl-Wagner BB, Stäbler A, Brossmann J, et al. Assessment of the position of the distal portion of the ulna in lateral projection radiographs of the wrist: Analysis of the influence of pronation-supination and flexion-extension on the pisoscaphoid and the ulnotriquetral distances: A cadaver study. Invest Radiol 2001;36:612–618. rationale and objectives.Accurate assessment of the distal radioulnar joint is of paramount importance for the detection of possible dislocation or subluxation. Using a cadaveric model, the authors attempted to establish a quantitative method that would allow identification of normal and abnormal distal radioulnar joint anatomy on well-positioned and rotated conventional radiographs. methods.Four cadaveric wrists, in which subsequent sectioning confirmed the absence of disease, and one cadaveric wrist with a circumscribed lesion of the triangular fibrocartilaginous complex were studied. Defined movements in flexion and extension (± 10°, 20°, 30°) and in pronation and supination (± 10°, 20°, 30°) as well as combined flexion/extension and pronation/supination were performed. The ulnotriquetral and the pisoscaphoid distances were assessed in each position. Correlation with cryosections was achieved. results.A strong linear correlation between the degree of pronation or supination and the pisoscaphoid and ulnotriquetral distances was noted. Flexion and extension produced no significant effect on the pisoscaphoid distance, but a defined shift of the ulnotriquetral distance occurred with increasing flexion and extension. conclusions.If all parameters are taken into account, this correlation aids in estimating the degree of possible malpositioning of the wrist during radiography and the degree of subluxation of the distal radioulnar joint. Tabular data with parameters to correct for instances of malrotated images and to estimate the extent of dislocation or malrotation of the distal radioulnar joint are provided.


Introduction:
 ASPECTS and CT perfusion (CTP) lesion volumes have been used to triage patients with large artery occlusions to endovascular therapy. Specifically, ASPECTS ≤5 and CTP infarct core >50 mL excluded patients from some recent endovascular trials. It is unclear how well these criteria select patients who will have poor functional outcomes despite reperfusion and if the criteria are interchangeable.

 Hypothesis:
 ASPECTS and CTP infarct volumes are correlated and both predict clinical outcome.

 Methods:
 Patients with anterior circulation strokes were enrolled in a prospective multi-center study (CRISP) if CTP could be obtained <90 minutes before endovascular treatment, and intervention performed <18h from onset. Reperfusion was defined as >50% reduction from baseline Tmax>6s volume on early follow-up MRI (<36h from baseline CT) or final TICI 2b/3 if follow-up MRI unavailable. A single blinded reader at the core imaging facility determined ASPECTS on baseline CT. Baseline ischemic core volumes were assessed using automated software (RAPID). Good outcome was defined as mRS 0-2 and poor outcome as mRS 5-6.

 Results:
 This analysis includes 165 patients with reperfusion after endovascular therapy. Baseline ASPECTS and infarct core volume are inversely associated (p=0.009). Lower ASPECTS and larger infarct core were associated with a lower chance of good outcome in univariate analysis: OR for good outcome was 0.8 (95% CI 0.7-1.0) per point decrease in ASPECTS and 0.8 (95% CI 0.6-0.9) per 10mL increase in infarct core. Adjusted for baseline NIHSS and age, core remained a predictor of good outcomes (p=0.025) while ASPECTS showed a strong trend (p=0.072). The PPV for poor outcome despite reperfusion was 38% (5/13) for infarct core >50 mL and 0% (0/7) for ASPECTS ≤5 (p=0.1 for difference in PPV). No patient met both criteria.

 Conclusions:
 The ASPECTS and ischemic core volume criteria used to exclude patients from some endovascular therapy trials, did not agree in identifying patients with presumed poor outcomes. Neither criterion had a high specificity for identifying patients destined to have a poor outcome despite reperfusion. Randomized trials are warranted to assess the efficacy of endovascular therapy in patients with ischemic core lesions >50 ml and ASPECTS ≤5.


To enable mechanical milling of small (0.1–1.0 g) samples, a cylindrical grinding vessel machined from polypropylene and furnished with tungsten carbide rods has been designed and produced for use inside the conventional jar of a McCrone Micronizing Mill. The vessel is about one-seventh the volume of the conventional jar supplied by the manufacturer. The conditions of milling for both the conventional and the miniaturized-grinding assemblies were tested using quartz sand as a limiting case. The median grain sizes of the resultant powders were measured by an X-ray gravitational-sedimentation method, with contamination from the grinding media measured by Rietveld refinement and by instrumental neutron activation analysis. The use of tungsten carbide grinding elements permits rapid wet milling of a small sample to the same median grain size in about one-third of the time required by a regular sample ground in corundum. The relative contamination (by tungsten carbide on a weight basis) using the miniaturized-grinding assembly is about 6(1)% of the proportion of corundum contamination yielded by the conventional grinding assembly.


A rare case is reported in which a symptomatic Rathke's cleft cyst was studied by light and electron microscopy and tissue culture. The findings are compared with those of a craniopharyngioma studied in the same way. The patient was a 26-year-old woman presenting with headache, chiasmatic syndrome, and hypopituitarism. A cyst containing a mural nodule was partially removed and an Ommaya reservoir placed in the operative site for further treatment. The cyst wall was composed of connective tissue and three kinds of epithelial cells: non-ciliated squamous, ciliated columnar, and mucous-secreting cells. The morphology of these cells in vitro was similar to prickle cells seen in craniopharyngioma and the epidermis. It is concluded that both Rathke's left cyst and craniopharyngioma originate in remnants of Rathke's pouch, but at times may show some histological differences.


In this paper we introduce a construction of directed strongly regular graphs from smaller ones using equitable partitions. Each equitable partition of a single DSRG satisfying several conditions leads to an infinite family of directed strongly regular graphs. We construct in this way dozens of infinite families. For order at most 110, we confirm the existence of DSRGs for 30 previously open parameter sets.


In a day when marriage as an institution is coming progressively under fire and counter-culture groups are attempting to change social mores, there is an ever-increasing need for a clear understanding of marriage. This article seeks to determine whether marriage is a social arrangement, a legal contract or a religious rite. Three things which are believed to be interrelated and constitute the primary ingredients of marriage are posited: (a) a commitment on the part of two people to live together in a unique and abiding relationship; (b) sexual union; and (c) the need for children as a natural consequence of this union.


Advanced tactical fighter (ATF) configurations are bound to perform high angle of attack (AoA) maneuvers. However, existing conceptual design tools available in aerospace industry are based on empirical or potential flows that cannot predict aerodynamic data in nonlinear regimes. High-fidelity computational fluid dynamics algorithms have to be incorporated during conceptual design phase for better assessment between competing configurations. In this research, steady state aerodynamic analysis is conducted to compare four conceptual designs of advanced tactical fighters through Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) simulations. Prior to the study, two validation test cases were conducted based on ONERA M6 Wing and benchmark unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) design to assess the computational setup for the problem. Pressure based solver is used to model the flow field in subsonic, transonic and supersonic regimes at sea level for all four competing designs. The quantitative results include the aerodynamic forces and the longitudinal stability coefficient comparisons among the models and its components. The qualitative analyses include pressure distribution, eddy shedding and behavior of vortices at varying flow angle. Additionally, the empirical estimation for interpolation and post-stall extrapolation are carried out for further flight performance studies.


Although it focuses on Tokyo and Kyoto -- the two Japanese cities that most tourists want to visit -- Frommer's EasyGuide to Japan also examines the Japanese locations to which most tourists make day-trips or longer excursions from the two must-sees. Enjoying a far more favorable exchange rate than in recent years, the now-moderately-priced Japan is enjoying a major upswing in its incoming tourism, and our experienced author of many previous guidebooks to Japan has made it even easier to enjoy, easier to understand, easier to tour, in a concise "Easy Guide" designed to fit into pocket or purse.


Postural control is significantly affected by the postural base of support; however, the effects on postural adaptation are not well understood. Here we investigated how adaptation and transfer of anticipatory postural control are affected by stance width. Subjects made reaching movements in a novel dynamic environment while holding the handle of a force-generating robotic arm. Each subject initially adapted to the dynamics while standing in a wide stance and then switched to a narrow stance, or vice versa. Our hypothesis is that anticipatory postural control, reflected in center of pressure (COP) movement, is not affected by stance width, as long as the control remains within functional limits; therefore we predicted that subjects in either stance would show similar COP movement by the end of adaptation and immediately upon transfer to the other stance. We found that both groups showed similar adaptation of postural control, by using different muscle activation strategies to account for the differing stance widths. One group, after adapting in wide stance, transferred similar postural control to narrow stance, by modifying their muscle activity to account for the new stance. Interestingly, the other group showed an increase in postural control when transferring from narrow to wide stance, associated with no change in muscle activity. These results confirm that adaptation of anticipatory postural control is not affected by stance width, as long as the control remains within biomechanical limits. However, transfer of control between stance widths is affected by the initial context in which the task is learned.


The paper briefly reviews the development of the atomistic method of calculating the properties of defects in ionic crystals, as it derives from the early work of Mott and Littleton (1938). The physical principles and assumptions of the method are described, although the main emphasis is on the development of the technique. It is pointed out that appeal to the quasi-harmonic approximation has made it possible to extend the technique so that the characteristics of defects can now be successfully obtained as functions of temperature. The insights into atomic transport phenomena which these calculations provide are illustrated by three examples.


HLA typing was done on 2,956 healthy, unrelated individuals living in four areas in Bulgaria. Of these, 163 had G6PD deficiency. The persons examined lived in villages situated at different altitudes. A low degree of correlation was found only for HLA-A1, -Aw23, -Bw35 and -B40 in the selected group with G6PD deficiency. The decrease of phenotype frequency of each HLA antigen was found to be directly proportional to the decrease of G6PD deficiency frequencies and related to environmental altitude, which is very typical for this selected group of carriers of this deficiency.


Finite element derivative superconvergent points for the Poisson equation under local rectangular mesh (in the two dimensional case) and local brick mesh (in the three dimensional situation) are investigated. All superconvergent points for the finite element space of any order that is contained in the tensor-product space and contains the intermediate family can be predicted. In case of the serendipity family, the results are given for finite element spaces of order below 7. Any finite element space that contains the complete polynomial space will have at least all superconvergent points of the related serendipity family.


Abstract Water governance in Tanzania's small-scale irrigation schemes has become ever more challenging because of increasing market penetration, declining predictability of water availability and widening institutional pluralism. Despite these trends, resource conflicts at the local level have generally been avoided. Instead, one observes processes in which actors involved in conflicts make and remake institutions. This renders these irrigation schemes interesting for studying water governance institutions under construction. By documenting how conflicts over water are solved in small-scale irrigation schemes in rural Tanzania, we show that resource conflicts do not necessarily lead to violence, but motivate actors to pragmatically search for solutions. Institutional pluralism is turned into an asset because it increases the potential for creativity. As such, pragmatic conflict resolution and institutional pluralism contribute to the development of more sophisticated and locally adapted resource governance institutions. However, despite its potential, actor-driven development of resource governance institutions can also reproduce deeply entrenched power imbalances and gender roles. As such, it can hinder inclusion of less powerful resource users because the latter do not always have the capability to engage in creative conflict resolution.


We develop a novel cross-lingual word representation model which injects syntactic information through dependency-based contexts into a shared cross-lingual word vector space. The model, termed CL-DepEmb, is based on the following assumptions: (1) dependency relations are largely language-independent, at least for related languages and prominent dependency links such as direct objects, as evidenced by the Universal Dependencies project; (2) word translation equivalents take similar grammatical roles in a sentence and are therefore substitutable within their syntactic contexts. Experiments with several language pairs on word similarity and bilingual lexicon induction, two fundamental semantic tasks emphasising semantic similarity, suggest the usefulness of the proposed syntactically informed cross-lingual word vector spaces. Improvements are observed in both tasks over standard cross-lingual "offline mapping" baselines trained using the same setup and an equal level of bilingual supervision.


This paper discusses the input range limitation problem in a track-and-hold circuit and the compensation method using a bootstrapped switch. A bootstrapped switch with an additional control circuit is proposed to compensate charge loss in conventional bootstrapped switch circuit. Simulation results using 0.18-μm CMOS process parameters show that the proposed circuit reduces the bootstrap capacitance down to 25% for the conventional circuit.


In 2012, the Australian Government lifted previously imposed limits on the funding of bachelor-degree students at public universities. This new system was called 'demand driven' because it allowed universities to respond to student demand and allowed more students to benefit from higher education. On 12 November 2013 Minister for Education, the Hon Christopher Pyne, appointed a review panel to look at and make recommendations in relation to the demand driven funding arrangements. The review panel comprised the Hon Dr David Kemp and Mr Andrew Norton and is known as the Norton-Kemp review. The panel looked at the impacts of the demand driven system and whether it is increasing participation, improving access to students from poorer backgrounds and rural and regional areas, and meeting the skill needs of the economy. It explored whether there were any adverse impacts on quality and considered the long term sustainability of the system. The report found that public universities have responded well to changes under the demand driven system and improved access for all students. It found the new system has allowed universities to be more responsive to student needs, driven innovation and lifted quality. The reviewers made 19 findings and 17 recommendations, including extending the demand driven system to diplomas, advanced diplomas and associate degrees, and to private universities and non-university higher education providers such as TAFEs. The reviewers believe that extending the demand driven system will expand opportunities for students, and lead to further innovation in courses and modes of delivery, and in the quality of teaching and graduates.


Introduction: Surgical revascularization is very effective in patients with moyamoya angiopathy (MMA) and leads to improvements in cortical perfusion parameters. However, changes in white matter hemodynamics are still underestimated. To date, only a few studies have examined brain perfusion changes within deep white matter after bypass surgery in patients with MMA. Methods: Ten children with MMA were evaluated using the CT perfusion technique before and after revascularization surgery. Brain perfusion parameters within gray and white matter were compared before and after surgery. The correlations between the perfusion parameters before surgery and the Suzuki stage, as well as between the perfusion parameters and the cognitive scores, were also evaluated. Results: Brain perfusion parameters improved significantly in both gray matter (predominantly due to cerebral blood flow within the anterior circulation, p < 0.01) and white matter (predominantly due to cerebral blood volume within the semiovale centrum, p < 0.001). We revealed that the pattern of improvement in perfusion in white matter differed from the pattern of improvement in perfusion in gray matter. Significant correlations were revealed between the Suzuki stage before surgery and the perfusion parameters within the posterior cerebral artery circulation (adjusted p < 0.05). There were also significant correlations between cognitive scores and brain perfusion parameters in gray matter and white matter (adjusted p < 0.05). Conclusions: The perfusion parameters of gray matter and white matter in the brain improve differently after bypass surgery in patients with MMA. Different hemodynamics within these compartments could explain this.


: Polymer nanocomposites with improved dielectric permittivity and high breakdown strength are extremely desirable for the flexible electronic devices and power systems. The compatibility of fillers and polymer matrix is important in determining the dielectric and breakdown strength properties. The core–shell structure concept is useful to improve the compatibility of fillers with polymer matrix. Herein, an organic thermoplastic urethanes (TPU) polymer shell was successfully grafted on the surface of barium titanate (BaTiO 3 , BT) and such a TPU shell improved the permittivity and breakdown strength of TPU@BT/PVDF polymer nanocomposites greatly. The permittivity of TPU@BT/PVDF nanocomposites with 12 wt% fillers at 10 2 Hz was up to 13.5, which was 1.5 times higher than that of pure poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF). The improvement of the dielectric properties could be attributed to the enhanced interfacial polarisation between BT nanoparticles and TPU shell. Besides, the compatibility of BT nanoparticles and PVDF matrix was improved after the introduction of TPU shell. Accordingly, a highest breakdown strength value about 373 MV/m was obtained for the TPU@BT/PVDF nanocomposites with 7 wt% fillers. The core–shell strategy could be extended to a variety of inorganic fillers to improve the dielectric and breakdown strength properties of polymer nanocomposites.


A strong contrast in the third-order nonlinear optical effects exhibited by hierarchical nanostructures explored in a bidirectional optical circuit is reported. The samples were integrated by multiwall carbon nanotubes and platinum-decorated carbon nanotubes synthetized by an aerosol pyrolysis technique and followed by a chemical vapor deposition method. Coupled and decoupled third-order nonlinear optical properties of the nanocomposites were studied. A nanosecond two-wave mixing experiment at 532 nm wavelength was conducted to analyze the optical Kerr effect in the samples. Multi-photonic interactions were evaluated by a single-beam transmittance as a function of input irradiance and volume fraction of the nanoparticles integrated in the nanohybrids. A two-photon absorption process was identified as the main physical mechanism responsible for the anisotropy in the observed optical nonlinearities. Random carbon nanotube networks in film form were put on top of platinum-decorated carbon nanotubes in order to build up a bilayer sample featuring optical selectivity. The switching of optical signals in propagation through the samples was obtained by an orientation-selectable optical transmittance. Unidirectional optically controlled laser pulses dependent on irradiance and polarization in a two-wave mixing was proposed with potential nanophotonic and nanoelectronic applications. The design of signal processing functions driven by nanohybrid platforms can be contemplated.


Recommender systems, as effective approaches to information overload issue, have attracted researcherspsila attention especially in the field of electronic commerce. They provide personalized recommendations on products/services to customers. From a sellerpsilas point of view the process of recommendation is a multi-criteria decision problem. So the recommender systems can also be seen as decision support systems which help a seller to decide and choose suitable items for recommendation. This study proposes a novel design of recommender systems for product recommendation to new users -by collecting both implicit and explicit information- based on the PROMETHEE II methodology which is a well known multi-criteria decision analysis out-ranking method. We also experienced the recommendation from different but relevant sorts of items in this design. The performance of the proposed recommendation algorithm is tested with real world data. Experimental results reveal that the proposed system is feasible and can yield satisfactory recommendations.


Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) piezoelectric nanofibers were fabricated through near-field electrospinning (NFES) to develop a flexible piezoelectric element. Innovative screen printing technology was employed to produce bend-type electrodes designed with d33 mode patterns. The electrodes and PVDF nanofibers were then attached to a polyimide film substrate. Compared with piezoelectric ceramics, piezoelectric fibers are inexpensive, flexible, and highly biocompatible. They also have a higher electron density than piezoelectric films, indicating that they are more efficient in electromechanical conversion. Thus, in this study, we adopted piezoelectric fibers to create a displacement sensor with bend-type electrodes that employed optimized pattern designs to increase the efficiency of piezoelectric conversion and sensitivity. The experimental results revealed that the type of electrode was critical for enhancing output voltage. The novel bend-type electrodes induced an average positive voltage of 960.5 mV during a tapping experiment, increasing the maximum voltage by 59.74% compared with a series-type electrode. The positioning accuracy of the displacement sensor was 600 μm; thus, the sensor could successfully determine positioning, confirming the feasibility of the displacement sensing mechanism.


We report two cases, siblings, diagnosed with congenital adrenal hyperplasia due to 21-hydroxylase deficiency in the simple classic virilizing form. The female patient had her research started early after birth because of ambiguous genitalia, while the older sibling had her diagnosis delayed, since her clinical manifestations were noticed at around the age of 4. Patients were diagnosed with hormonal dosages and molecular analysis was performed, followed by treatment. This, a challenge, since patients required adjustment of glucocorticoid dose and mineralocorticoid association. In addition to the description of the cases, we present what is discussed in the literature about the disease, its classifications, clinical presentations, therapeutic options and follow-up. Palavras-chave: hiperplasia suprarrenal


The series expansion of a bivariate distribution and the series expansion of the output of a nonlinearity are considered, as well as the relationship between these two problems. Three distinct expansions of bivariate distributions are presented along with a constructive procedure to obtain them explicitly. The cross-covarianee property and certain results on the expansion of the output of a nonlinearity are extended to a larger class of random processes.


We study the theory of scattering for the Zakharov system in space dimension 3. We prove in particular the existence of wave operators for that system with no size restriction on the data in larger spaces and for more general asymptotic states than were previously considered, and we determine convergence rates in time of solutions in the range of the wave operators to the solutions of the underlying linear system. We also consider the same system in space dimension 2. where we prove the existence of wave operators for small Schrodinger data in the special case of vanishing asymptotic data for the wave field.


The study was conducted in June 2009 around the waters of Samalona, Barranglompo, Koedingareng Keke, Badi, Langkai and Kapoposang islands, representing four zones of Spermonde Archipelago of South Sulawesi. Seven species of anemonefish from two genera were found living symbiotically with 7 species of sea anemones. Those fishes were Amphiprion clarkii, A. melanopus, A. ocellaris, A. sandaracinos, A. perideraion, A. polymnus and Premnas biaculeatus. Three of these fishes were simbiotically found with one species of anemone (specific symbiont), and one species of fish was symbiotically found with five species of anemones. Keywords: Amphiprioninae, Spermonde Archipelago, anemone symbiont


UPPER CRETACEOUS DEPOSITS IN SUDETES AND INFLUENCE OF TECTONICS UPON THEIR SEDIMENTATION Summary In Sudetes, the Cretaceous deposits were formed depending upon negative and positive tectonic movements that were a reflection of an orogen active in the Carpathian geosyncline. The deposits are developed in sandstone-carbonate facies, and belong to one sedimentary cycle which begins with a marine transgression and ends with a marine regression. The Cenomanian transgression is responsible for the formation of two basins in the area of Sudetes: North-Sudetic Basin and Middle-Sudetic basin. At the Cenomanian time and in the lower horizon of the Lower Turonian time, the sedimentation in these basins was restricted. Fauna, mainly with Exogyra and Pecten forms, was poor. Degradation of the elevations that surrounded the basins, transgressive widening of the basins and increased possibility of mutual connection led to the change in sedimentary regime (allochtonous into an incomplete autochthonous), visible in the upper horizon of the Lower Turonian. Thus, a hindrance that impeded the exchange of fauna with the open see was removed. Consequently, in the upper horizon of the Lower Turonian, the Cretaceous sea was not only characterized by its largest extent in the Sudetes, but the existing fauna also obtained its cosmopolitan character. Despite a tendency of Sudetes to subside and a tendency of the sea to enlarge, only the Strzegom massif supplied the arenaceous material to the Jerzmanice trough. The Middle Turonian belongs to the regressive phase of a sedimentary cycle. The regression is proved by the sublittoral joint sandstones coming from the elevated crystalline massifs of Sudetes. The arenaceous material was first accumulated in the near-shore zones of the basins, and then brought by currents towards the deeper parts of these basins. So, the sea was restricted to a smaller area. In the Middle and Upper Turonian, the uplifting movements, restricted mainly to the area of the crystalline massifs, took place with interruptions, and were of various intensity. At the Upper Turonian time, the source Izera-Karkonosze area was considerably widened. At the Turonian-Coniacian boundary a periodical withdrawal of the sea began from the south-eastern area of the North-Sudetic basin. Most probably, it was connected with the uplifting of part of the Kaczawskie Mountains. If we accept that the Lower Coniacian deposits point to a rapid increase in the intensity of the uplifting movements that have reached far beyond the area of the crystalline massifs, then the possibility of interruption in the connection between the two Sudetic basins must have existed already in this substage. The sea withdrew from the area of 'the Middle Sudetes probably at the close of the Lower Coniacian. The. Upper Coniacian marls and the Santonian siltstones are known to occur only in the North-Sudetic basin, in the region of a deep bore hole, near Przewoz. These deposits are hidden under a, thick cover of Tertiary formations. Probably at the close of the Santonian time the sea withdrew from the area of the North Sudetes.


Mass flow measurement in pneumatic conveyors with very low solids loading is difficult, even when using capacitance techniques, due to the baseline drift and limiting sensitivity of the transducer. The authors describe a measurement system specifically designed for low solids loadings. The relationship between number of particles in the sensing volume of the capacitance electrode and the solids loading in the conveyor is derived and shown to be linear and independent of the solids velocity. When the number of particles in the sensing volume is low, a novel capacitance transducer measuring the average value of capacitance fluctuations can be used to determine solids loading. This measurement can be combined with a solids velocity measurement to give mass flow. Good agreement is obtained between calculated and measured results using 4 mm PVC cubes for solid concentrations from 0.05 to 0.30 V/V and velocities from 5.2 to 18.9 m s-1.


Synthetic antiferromagnetic (SAF) spin-valve (SV) sensors (NiFe/Cu/Co/Ru/Co/IrMn) are studied in detail through 3-D FEM micromagnetic modeling. The current induced field, demagnetizing field and the exchange couple field are taken into account. The SAF structure is shown to have some advantages. The current field is not only helpful to bias the signal, but also to stabilize the SAF pinned layer because the current in the Co layers produces opposing fields in the layers. The thermal stability has been improved by introducing the current field. The SAF structure not only reduces the demagnetizing field in the free layer and itself, but also increases the signal dynamic range and reduces the signal distortion. These are attributed to the large antiferromagnetic coupling constant and the pinning field. Simulation results show that there is no noise-producing domain formation when the product of remanent magnetization and thickness of the hard magnets is slightly greater than that of the saturation magnetization and the thickness of the free layer.


Preemptive Time Petri nets are obtained by extending Time Petri nets with an additional mechanism of resource assignment which makes the progress of timed transitions be dependent on the availability of a set of preemptable resources, and with the capability to make transition times and priorities be dependent on the marking. The combination of these capabilities supports description and verification of flexible real time systems running under preemptive scheduling, with periodic, sporadic and one shot processes, with non-deterministic execution times, with semaphore synchronizations and precedence relations deriving from internal task sequentialization and from interprocess communication. The expressive capabilities of the model and the type of results that can be derived through symbolic enumeration of its dense-timed state space are illustrated with reference to a flexible system mixing dynamic acceptance and performance polymorphism.


This report is the result of a graduation project in the domain of the Neglected Tropical Disease (NTD): Visceral Leishmaniasis (VL) in low resource settings in East Africa. The project aims to find promising ways to fit a technical principle, which is being developed at the TUDelft, in the context of VL. VL endemic regions in Eastern Uganda and North-Western were visited during a two-week field trip to understand the context of VL. VL is a parasitic disease which is endemic in several parts in the world including East Africa. The disease is strongly related to poverty and mainly persists in remote and poor areas where health care services are limited. VL affects the internal organs and is fatal if untreated. There are many barriers complicate access VL diagnostics and treatment, such as the limited number of facilities, large distances, lack of trained staff and low index of suspicion by health care workers. VL is often misdiagnosed as the symptoms of VL are similar to many other diseases. In addition, current diagnostic practices have limitations in their performance (unreliable), especially in East Africa. More reliable diagnostic practices require more advanced tools and skills which are not available in most VL endemic areas. Thus, there is a need for a more reliable diagnostic test for the African VL context. The technical principle can be integrated on a diagnostic test strip to test a patient for VL. Based on a sample, it can separate and amplify the pathogens and detect their DNA with a CRISPR/Cas9 system. The result is a colourimetric read-out which indicates whether or not the patient has VL. This technical principle is based on DNA detection, which enables reliable test results independent of someone's immune system. Additional advantages of this technical principle are that it is quick and broadly applicable. To understand where the technical principle could be implemented, a session was held with the team of IDE and Applied Sciences (TUDelft). This session resulted in the creation of seven scenarios which represent unique ways to combine the features of the technical principle into a diagnostic test which fits a diagnostic setting in the context of VL and matches a local need. After evaluation with Medecins Sans Frontieres, the two most 'promising' scenarios are selected based on the feasibility of the technical principle, the contextual fit and the local need. The two selected scenarios are: 'Screening a Confirming" scenario and the "Test-of-cure" scenario.By detailing the selected scenarios, five variables where identified which clarify that the diagnostic setting influences the features of a diagnostic test. These are: 1) (geographic) location, 2) resource availability, 3) (medical) background of the user, 4) diagnostic moment, 5) patient status. Requirements are composed to see how the diagnostic setting affects the diagnostic test. The categorisation of the requirements and diagnostic setting variables have resulted in four different diagnostic tests - each with a unique set of requirements.


Algorithms based on face images are quite appealing for the possibility to easily adapt and tailor a system to many application domains. A system for personal identity verification and also recognition is presented. The core engine is a standard correlation-based matcher performed on iconic representations of face images. Through standard statistical tests of the recognition results obtained from two different data sets the actual physical limits of the pattern matcher are clearly shown. Successively also other aspects are taken into account, related to the feature space, allowing us to greatly improve the system performance reaching almost 100% correct recognition.


The presented thesis studies the knee arthroplasty, in order to contribute to the improvement of knee prostheses. The main subjects treated in the research activity consist in: biomechanical study of the knee joint; 3D reconstruction of the knee joint starting from the ct images; conception and design of new models of partial and total knee prostheses; experimental motion analysis of patients having different pathologies (implanted and nonimplanted); manufacturing of the designed models of knee prostheses; testing of the manufactured prostheses.


Summary Vanillyl and veratryl alcohols were used as monomeric lignin model compounds in experiments aiming to enhance the understanding of the lignin oxidation mechanisms involved in the oxygen delignification in acidic media catalysed by [PMo7V5O40]8− (HPA-5) heteropolyanion. Based on the model compound experiments, the first step of lignin oxidation is suggested to be a one-electron oxidation by the catalyst. This step is followed by coupling reactions and/or by further oxidation by the catalyst. The ratio of coupling/oxidation reaction products depends on the oxidation conditions and decreases with temperature raise. The higher oxidation rate of vanillyl alcohol as compared to the veratryl alcohol in the reaction system O2/HPA-5 was explained by the redox properties of the catalyst. The insufficiently high redox potential of HPA-5 did not allow the efficient oxidation of veratryl alcohol. The former was oxidised by VO2 + ions dissociated from the HPA-5 under the acidic conditions. The reactivity of different lignin structural units in the reaction system O2/HPA-5 was estimated by electrochemical methods using various lignin model compounds.


The objective of this meta-analysis was to evaluate the prevalence of third molar (M3) impaction worldwide in individuals ≥17 y, from either sex, who had undergone oral radiography and presented with no orofacial syndromes or defects. We performed a literature search using PubMed, ISI Web of Science, and Google Scholar and retrieved English and non-English articles from any period for review. We included studies reporting M3 impaction prevalence based on radiographic examination. Risk of bias was assessed regarding individuals with craniofacial syndromes, prior extraction of permanent teeth, multiple effect size estimates, and studies conflating lack of eruption with impaction. Our search yielded 49 studies involving 83,484 individuals. Worldwide M3 impaction prevalence was found to be 24.40% (95% confidence interval [95% CI]: 18.97% to 30.80%). The odds of M3 impaction in the mandible were 57.58% (95% CI: 43.3% to 68.3%, P < 0.0001) higher than in the maxilla, but we did not detect any difference in the odds of impaction between men and women (18.62%, 95% CI: –4.9% to 48.0%, P = 0.12). Mesioangular impaction was most common (41.17%, 95% CI: 33.8% to 49.0%), followed by vertical (25.55%, 95% CI: 20.0% to 32.0%), distoangular (12.17%, 95% CI: 9.1% to 16.0%), and horizontal (11.06%, 95% CI: 8.3% to 14.6%). Impaction of 1 (42.71%, 95% CI: 30.0% to 56.5%) or 2 (29.64%, 95% CI: 19.5% to 42.3%) M3s was much more common than 3 (12.04%, 95% CI: 7.2% to 19.3%) or 4 (8.74%, 95% CI: 5.2% to 14.5%). There were small differences among impaction prevalence depending on geographic region (F test, P = 0.049). Selection bias was evident because individuals had to undergo radiographic examination to be included in the analysis. The subgroup analysis by sex was underpowered. Worldwide M3 impaction prevalence is lower than previously reported. The percentage of individuals with impacted M3s is much smaller than the percentage that undergoes clinical treatment for M3 problems.


Circulating monocytes and vascular endothelial cells (EC) interact in a complex and dynamic manner that varies between vascular beds. The objective of this study was twofold: to ascertain if monocytic cell adhesion to vascular endothelium differed between specific anatomic regions of the canine aorta, and to investigate the effect of known EC stimulators on monocytic cell adhesion to cells from these regions. Initial in vitro studies measuring adherence of U937 cells, a human monocytic cell line, to canine jugular vein and aortic EC monolayers revealed a dose-dependent increase in adhesion to EC stimulated with interleukin-1 (IL-1), lipopolysaccharide (LPS), phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA), or thrombin. While there was no regional difference in monocytic cell adherence to unstimulated EC in tissue culture, studies demonstrated greater monocytic cell adhesion to stimulated EC cultured from the distal versus proximal aorta. In organ culture, unstimulated adhesion of U937 cells or autologous monocytes was significantly greater to the distal aorta than the proximal aorta. Although monocytic cell adhesion to both the proximal and distal aorta increased with stimulation, the percentage increase in the proximal aorta, 1,086% with IL-1, 237% with PMA, 209% with LPS, and 174% with thrombin, was greater than in the distal aorta, demonstrating a significant functional difference in the endothelium from separate anatomic regions of a single vessel. This may have a direct relevance to the regional specificity of vascular disease.


Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a serious disease characterized by a rapid decline in kidney function. Oxidative stress is the primary pathogenesis of AKI. Salvianolic acid B (SalB), a water-soluble compound extracted from Salvia miltiorrhiza, possesses a potent antioxidant activity. Here, we investigated the protective effect of SalB against renal ischemia-reperfusion injury (I/R) in mice. Briefly, by analyzing renal function, oxidative stress markers and inflammatory biomarkers, we found that SalB could improve kidney damage, reduce oxidative stress and inflammatory factor levels. Interestingly, the expression of the NLR family pyrin domain-containing 3 (NLRP3), caspase-1, pyroptosis related proteins gasdermin D (GSDMD) and interleukin (IL)-1β, which were significantly upregulated in the kidney tissues of I/R group, was effectively reversed by SalB. Meanwhile, renal tubular epithelial cells hypoxia and reoxygenation model was used to explore pyroptosis of caspase-1-dependent. Further mechanism study showed that the SalB pretreatment could promote the increase of nuclear factor erythroid-2 related factor 2 (Nrf2) nuclear accumulation, which significantly suppressed oxidative stress, proinflammatory cytokines, NLRP3 inflammasome activation and pyroptosis. These results indicate that SalB can inhibit caspase-1/GSDMD-mediated pyroptosis by activating Nrf2/NLRP3 signaling pathway, resulting in alleviating I/R injury in mice.


Numbness of the lower lip, the skin of the chin, or the gingiva of the lower anterior teeth secondary to various dental diseases is a common manifestation that is largely underappreciated. The association of numb chin syndrome (NCS) with serious disease like metastatic malignancy and systemic conditions is frequent enough to warrant a search for these possible etiologies. In this paper we report a case of NCS that occurred secondary to malignant disease; we discuss our findings with special emphasis on metastatic malignancies leading to NCS, when the survival is only for a few months.


A steroidogenic acute regulatory (StAR) protein has been identified in several species as a probable important rate-limiting step in steroidogenesis. This protein is believed to be responsible for transporting cholesterol from the outer to the inner mitochondrial membrane. It is known that equine chorionic gonadotrophin (eCG) stimulates steroidogenesis in the corpora lutea of early pregnant mares and that eCG also upregulates StAR mRNA in bovine ovaries. In the present study, ovarian tissue from cyclic and early pregnant mares was immunostained to detect the distribution of the StAR protein. Western blot analysis was performed, followed by phosphor imaging to establish whether the onset of eCG secretion in pregnancy was associated with increased expression of the StAR protein. Immunostaining for StAR was confined to the theca interna of growing and preovulatory follicles, but 24 h after treatment with hCG, some granulosa cells were positively stained. Positive staining was confined to the large luteal cells of the equine corpus luteum. There was no difference in the distribution of immunostaining before or after onset of eCG secretion in pregnant mares, but increased amounts of StAR were detected in corpora lutea from mares at day 40 or day 41 of pregnancy compared with non-pregnant mares and mares at days 20-30 of pregnancy.


PURPOSE
To calculate the total planning dose on lung tumors (GTV) by accumulating the dose received in all respiration phases.

METHODS
A patient 4D planning CT (phase-binned, from a Siemens Somatom CT) was used to locate the GTV of a lung tumor in all respiratory phases with Pinnacle (v9.10). GTV contours defined in all phases were projected to the reference phase, where the ITV was defined. Centroids were calculated for all the GTV projections. No deformation or rotation was taken into account. The only GTV contour as defined in the reference phase was voxelized to track each voxel individually. We accumulated the absorbed dose in different phases on each voxel. A 3DCRT and a VMAT plan were designed on the reference phase fulfilling the ITV dosimetric requirements, using the 10MV FFF photon model from an Elekta Versa linac. ITV-to-PTV margins were set to 5mm. In-house developed MATLAB code was used for tumor voxeling and dose accumulation, assuming that the dose distribution planned in the reference phase behaved as a "dose-cloud" during patient breathing.

RESULTS
We tested the method on a patient 4DCT set of images exhibiting limited tumor motion (<5mm). For the 3DCRT plan, D95 was calculated for the GTV with motion and for the ITV, showing an agreement of 0.04%. For the VMAT plan, we calculated the D95 for every phase as if the GTV in that phase had received the whole treatment. Differences in D95 for all phases are within 1%, and estimate the potential interplay effect during delivery.

CONCLUSION
A method for dose accumulation and assessment was developed that can compare GTV motion with ITV dosage, and estimate the potential interplay effect for VMAT plans. Work in progress includes the incorporation of deformable image registration and 4D CBCT dose calculation for dose reconstruction and assessment during treatment.


This paper analyzes the livelihood of the agro-pastoral communities of Western part of Tajikistan, the Zarafshan valley. The data were amassed on current fodder management practices in eighteen villages through households as well as agro-pastoralists and visual observation on local pasture areas. The interviews and discussions yielded more information on the decision-making processes that dehkans (farmers) employ to determine the quantity and composition of feed offered to livestock at particular times of the year. Among the influences to decisions were constraints to grazing and knowledge of appropriate lopping regimes for different animal fodder species. Varying degrees of access to off-farm fodder sources and the numbers of livestock kept by different households were also seen to affect fodder management decisions. Development activities aimed at labour use to fodder collection and the exchange of local knowledge regarding local fodder management are most likely to result in improvements in the levels of fodder supply for the majority of households in the short term. The variations were discussed within site-specific dehkan groups and between group representatives at a series of workshops. According to the results, stable type, number of cattle, size of cultivated land, labor availability per household, existence of small ruminant flock in the village, and the number of small ruminants were found to be most important factors affecting household economic status. It was concluded that more robust and long-term studies should be conducted using a wider variation in grassland quality to confirm the study findings.


With the passage of time the consumption of fossil fuels is increasing which causes to eliminate more and more greenhouse gases such CO2 in our atmosphere. CO2 is much harmful for us causes energy Crises etc. One of the best solution to reduce the quantity of CO2 into valuable sources such as CH4, HCO2H, CH2O, and CH3OH by preparing metal oxide semiconducting materials with the use of metal doping and coupling with other metal oxides. Metal oxide (TiO2) has been used for the photo catalytically reduction of CO2 due its non-toxicity, cheapness and environmentally friendly. Modification of TiO2 has concerned many interests due to maximum light absorption, decrease recombination rate, increase surface area to volume ratio, increase CO2 adsorption ability and enhanced activity of TiO2 for the conversion of CO2 into valuable sources. In this review paper, recent work on TiO2 has been presented including doping of metals and non-metals, coupling with metal oxides and heterojunction composites.


Real-time communication with performance guarantees is expected to become an important and necessary feature of future computer networks. In this paper, we present a scheme which can provide real-time communication services with both absolute and statistical performance guarantees on multiaccess bus networks for given input traffic characteristics and performance requirements. The proposed scheme reserves network bandwidth for real-time connections according to their needs. It also allows for independent addition and deletion of real-time connections while preserving existing guarantees. Our extensive simulation results for motion video communication have shown the proposed scheme to outperform the other well-known schemes.


Two-Time physics applies broadly to the formulation of physics and correctly describes the physical world as we know it. Recently it was applied to a 2T re-formulation of the d = 4 twistor superstring, which was suggested by Witten as an efficient approach for computations of physical processes in the maximally super-symmetric N = 4 Yang-Mills field theory in four dimensions. The 2T formalism provides a six dimensional view of this theory and suggests the existence of other d = 4 dual forms of the same theory. Furthermore the 2T approach led to the first formulation of a twistor superstring in d = 10 appropriate for AdS 5 ×S 5 backgrounds, and a twistor superstring in d = 6 related to the little understood superconformal theory in d = 6. The proper generalization of twistors to higher dimensions is an essential ingredient which is provided naturally by 2T-physics. These developments are summarized in this lecture 2 .


Introduction: A decrease in sleep quality and duration during space missions has repeatedly been reported. However, the exact causes that underlie this effect remain unclear. In space, sleep might be impacted by weightlessness and its influence on cardiovascular function. In this study, we aimed at exploring the changes of night sleep architecture during prolonged, 21-day Dry Immersion (DI) as one of the ground-based models for microgravity studies and comparing them with adaptive changes in the cardiovascular system. Methods: Ten healthy young men were exposed to DI for 21 days. The day before (baseline, B-1), on the 3rd (DI3), 10th (DI10), and 19th (DI19) day of DI, as well as in the recovery period, 1 day after the end of DI (R + 1), they were subjected to overnight polysomnography (PSG) and ambulatory blood pressure monitoring. Results: On DI3, when the most severe back pain occurred due to the effects of DI on the spine and back muscles, the PSG data showed dramatically disorganized sleep architecture. Sleep latency, the number of awakenings, and the duration of wake after sleep onset (WASO) were significantly increased compared with the B-1. Furthermore, the sleep efficiency, duration of rapid eye movement sleep (REM), and duration of non-rapid eye movement stage 2 decreased. On DI10, subjective pain ratings declined to 0 and sleep architecture returned to the baseline values. On DI19, the REM duration increased and continued to rise on R + 1. An increase in REM was accompanied by rising in a nighttime heart rate (HR), which also shows the most significant changes after the end of DI. On DI19 and R + 1, the REM duration showed opposite correlations with the BP parameters: on DI19 it was negatively associated with the systolic BP (SBP), and on R + 1 it was positively correlated with the diastolic BP (DBP). Conclusion: An increase in REM at the end of DI and in recovery might be associated with regulatory changes in the cardiovascular system, in particular, with the reorganization of the peripheral and central blood flow in response to environmental changes.


The end of the Cold War forced Western donors to rethink their aid relations with Africa. This book looks at two of these donors, France and Britain, and asks whether the development programmes of these former colonial powers have undergone radical changes since the end of the Old World Order. It focuses on the introduction of a controversial new 'regime' trend – political conditionality – and uses policy models to illustrate the driving forces behind this new development strategy and explain substantial differences in France and Britain's practice of political conditionality in Togo and Kenya. Overall, this volume – the first comparative study of French and British aid in the post-Cold War period – offers fresh insights into the evolution of the political assistance agenda and into deeper forces at work within the French and UK policy processes.


Abstract Lignin is an essential component of the cell wall of various plants and represents an abundant and renewable natural resource. Both thermo-chemical and biological pre-treatment can be applied to break down the phenylpropanoid polymer subunits present in lignin. These liberate a range of phenolic compounds which represent potential substrates for bioconversion by ω-transaminases. In this work, the CV2025 ω-transaminase (ω-TAm) from Chromobacterium violaceum DSM30191, heterologously expressed in E. coli, was explored for selective amination of lignin breakdown intermediates into value-added products. Eight potential ω-TAm substrates were initially screened using (S)-α-methylbenzylamine (MBA) as the amino donor. Vanillin was identified as the best potential substrate which is converted into vanillylamine; an intermediate in the preparation of pelargonic acid vanillylamide used as a hyperemia inducing active substance in wound dressings. At low vanillin and MBA concentrations (< 10 mM) and with an excess of the amine donor (1:4 mol/mol) 100% w/w conversion of vanillin into vanillylamine was observed within 25 min. At vanillin concentrations above 10 mM, substrate inhibition was observed decreasing the rate and yield of the bioconversion. High concentrations of the reaction product (vanillylamine) and by-product (acetophenone) also limited the conversion due to increased backward reaction rate and inhibition. Vanillylamine synthesis could be carried out by both whole cell and clarified lysate forms of the CV2025 ω-TAm while fed-batch bioconversions (feeding low concentrations of both vanillin and MBA) could help overcome substrate inhibition and double the final product concentrations obtained. These results demonstrate the potential for bioconversion of lignin breakdown products into value-added chemicals but illustrate the need for enzymes with improved substrate range and implementation of techniques to overcome product inhibition and equilibrium constraints.


Ethanol direct injection (EDI) is a new technology to use ethanol fuel more efficiently in spark ignition engines. Fuel temperature is one of the key factors which determine the evaporation process of liquid fuel spray, and consequently influence the combustion and emission generation of the engine. To better understand the mixture formation process of the EDI spray and provide experimental data for engine modelling, experiments were conducted in a constant volume chamber in engine-like conditions. The high speed Shadowgraphy imaging technique was used to capture the ethanol spray behaviours. The experiments covered a wide range of fuel temperature, ranged from 275 K (non-evaporating) to 400 K (flash-boiling). Particularly the transition of the ethanol spray from normal-evaporating to flash-boiling was investigated. The temporal Shadowgraphy spray images, spray tip penetration, angle and projected area were applied to evaluate the evaporation of EDI spray under different fuel temperature conditions. The results showed that the non-evaporating spray's characteristics were similar to the normal-evaporating sprays' in terms of spray tip penetration, angle and projected area. When the fuel temperature increased from 350 K to flash-boiling spray , the spray angle and projected area reduced significantly, but the spray tip penetration increased. Increasing the fuel temperature from 275 K to 325 K did not cause significant increase of the evaporating rate, but with further increase of the fuel temperature, the ethanol spray's evaporation became faster. The transition temperature at which the ethanol spray collapsed at atmospheric pressure was between 355 K and 360 K.


Conformational flexibility in the prion protein is believed to play a role in prion diseases. Here we examine the dynamic structure of the mouse cellular prion protein using two one-nanosecond molecular dynamics simulations from different initial conditions. The two simulations produce similar results. The overall structure remains close to that determined by nmr spectroscopy, with small deviations arising from loop fluctuation and slight changes in the relative helix positions. The sequence dependence of the fluctuation magnitudes is similar to the variation between the nmr-derived structure solutions. In both simulations, the N-terminal region of the protein forms a short, two-stranded beta-sheet, to which a third strand joins after approximately 100 ps. The additional strand may reflect nucleative properties of the beta-sheet required for disease-related prion conformational change.


Fuzzy inference systems (FIS) provide models for approximating continuous, real valued functions. The successful application of fuzzy reasoning models depends on a number of parameters, such as the fuzzy partition of the input/output universes of discourse, that are usually decided in a subjective manner (traditionally, fuzzy rule bases are constructed by knowledge acquisition from human experts). This paper presents a flexible genetic based method for learning the parameters of a FIS from examples such as the subjectivity not to be involved at all. We show that applying this method it is possible to obtain better performances for the FIS or, for the same performances, a less complex structure for the system.


The theory of representative bureaucracy concerns whether bureaucracy mirrors the origins and values of the population and, if so, whether such representation makes any difference. This article extends Hindera's examination of active bureaucratic representation within the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to determine the effect of introducing new goals (disability discrimination) and priorities (sexual harassment) on the EEOC's representational patterns. Using data from the late 1980s and late 1990s, we find the extent of active representation of African Americans declined. Although the EEOC is now pursuing more cases of sex discrimination, no evidence of active representation exists for women in EEOC district offices.


INTRODUCTION AND AIMS
Risk-based alcohol licensing (RBL) has been introduced in several jurisdictions in Australia, New Zealand and Canada with the intention of reducing harm in and around alcohol outlets. RBL involves tailoring licence fees or regulatory agency monitoring levels according to risk criteria such as trading hours, venue size and compliance history. The aim of this study was to document key informant perspectives including their perceptions of the purpose of RBL, how it works and its active ingredients.

DESIGN AND METHODS
We conducted semi-structured in-depth interviews with 28 key informants, including four government policy makers, four liquor licensing representatives, four local council members, eight police officers, six licensees, one academic and one community advocate from Victoria, Queensland, the Australian Capital Territory and Ontario, Canada. We analysed the transcripts using a thematic approach.

RESULTS
Informants varied in their opinions about whether RBL achieved its objective of reducing alcohol-related harm. They identified difficulties in enforcing the compliance history component of the scheme due to loopholes in legislation as a major shortfall, and the need to apply RBL to packaged liquor (off-licence) outlets. They also discussed the need to consider outlet density associated with the location of a venue when assessing venue risk.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS
RBL schemes vary by jurisdiction and emphasise different components. In general, informants surmised that RBL as implemented has probably had little or no preventive effect but suggested that it may be effective with greater monitoring and penalties large enough to deter bad practice.


Nitrofurantoin is a drug used in the antibacterial treatment of urinary tract infections (UTIs) for over 60 years. The aim of our study was to investigate the possible effects of nitrofurantoin, which is commonly used as a urinary tract antiseptic, on bladder contractions in male rats. Bladder tissues obtained from male Sprague-Dawley rats were used in the study (n=24). After decapitation, bladder tissues were suspended in an isolated organ bath of 5 ml containing a Krebs-Ringer bicarbonate solution by applying a tension of 1.5 grams. Nitrofurantoin was administered to three groups at doses of 50, 500 and 1000 μM, respectively. The area, peak-to-peak (p-p) and frequency values of bladder contractions were analyzed before and after administration of nitrofurantoin. The data obtained from the analysis were evaluated using the Paired T-Test in the IBM SPSS Statistics Software. Nitrofurantoin was observed to have an inhibitory effect on bladder contractions at all doses. The decrease in the area and peak-to-peak values was statistically significant at all doses (P


Abstract Psychological flow can be experienced in various occupational, recreational and creative domains and may confer increased well-being. Yet, very few studies have examined flow as a potential feature of creative arts therapies – particularly therapies which prioritise embodied/enactive processes. This study tested the acute effects of a 90-minute workshop (Arts for the Blues; A4B) on participants' (N = 18) mood and personal goal attainment. Psychological flow was measured, and participants rated the importance of flow in relation to A4B's psychotherapeutic aims. Results show significantly improved mood, increased goal attainment and substantial flow scores, suggesting that A4B processes may invoke flow. Participants' importance ratings of different flow dimensions indicate that some were considered as more important than others. Results are discussed in relation to methodological limitations, helpful creative therapeutic factors that may enable flow, and implications for researchers and practitioners who wish to encourage flow in their practice.


This paper presents a comprehensive study on the effects of critical process conditions on solder joint metallurgy and reliability of mixed-alloy solder joints. The solder joint metallurgy of mixed alloys was characterized and the lead distribution through the solder joint was analyzed, for different package types and under various process conditions. The results showed that the solder paste amount (ultimately the tin percentage (Sn%) in the alloy) and the reflow temperature play critical roles in the mixed-alloy assembly, both in terms of compositional homogeneity and voiding. The reliability of mixed-alloy solder joints was then studied at various process conditions, under different thermal and mechanical stress environments. The study revealed that the sensitivity of the reliability of the mixed-alloy solder joints to the process condition depends on the type of environmental loading.


The aetiology of cerebral palsy (CP) is complex and multifactorial. Multiple risk factors have been identified in the antenatal, perinatal, and postnatal period. These include a number of genetic factors, blood type incompatibility, multiple pregnancy, birth defects, fetal growth restriction, maternal pre-eclampsia, infection, preterm birth, birth complications, and perinatal stroke. In addition, several studies have demonstrated risk related to sociodemographic characteristics, such as parents' education level, age, and occupational status. Several studies have demonstrated that children who are socially disadvantaged are at higher risk of CP than those who are not. Forthun et al. examined the association of parents' education level and risk for CP. Using strong and complex methodology in a population of approximately 1.5 million children, the researchers explored whether the risk of CP in the child decreases with increasing parental education, or if unobserved factors were at play. This study adds important information to recent findings regarding the role of sociodemographic and selected family characteristics in CP. Sociodemographic characteristics have been found to be important predictors of family strengths. There appears to be a strong trend towards decreasing risk of CP with higher education of both the mother and the father. The fundamental question in epidemiology concerns the link between tendencies, risk factors, and actual causation. Forthun et al. provide evidence that children of higher-educated parents have significantly lower odds of CP, but they were able to perform a refined analysis of their findings combined with a modelling approach, which suggested that the level of parents' education is unlikely causal in itself. This should be stressed in order not to stigmatize parents or induce misplaced feelings of guilt with psychologically and socially devastating consequences, as was the case of the theory of affectionless parents ('refrigerator mother') to explain autism in a not so distant past. Rather, the significance of other factors should be studied, including factors that are not classically take into account, perhaps a few that are currently unknown, and hopefully a few that can be remedied. The role of genetic, environmental, and social risk factors that covary to some extent with parents' educational level should be further investigated, bearing in mind that if a number of risk factors for CP have been identified, they overlap and interact with each other in ways that are not easy to entangle. Parental education may be of prognostic value for CP in a child. Additionally, the prognosis of risk factors of CP will inform multidisciplinary assessment, hopefully facilitating earlier diagnosis and intervention.


Abstract With the dawn of a constitutional democracy, South Africa has enacted contentious policies, such as outlawing capital punishment and legalizing same-sex marriage. Within the educational environment, the religious education (RE) and comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) polices remain the most controversial to date. A comparative analysis of their overriding objectives suggests the two policies coincide in terms of their purpose (e.g. protecting the rights of religious and sexual minority groups), reform (conscientizing learners about the oppression of othered groups), and action (instilling inclusivity and diversity in religious and sexuality education). Yet, despite the two policies' corresponding position toward oppression encountered by minorities, the analysis shows some schools privilege the implementation of one policy over another. For example, the orthodox position taken by some faith-based schools in removing the teaching of sexuality diversity, and replacing it with religious studies. On the other hand, the analysis also shows that learners from both religious and sexual minority groups (e.g. queer Muslim youth), outside of faith-based schools, may face compounded forms of oppression based on religious, gender and sexual minority status. The analysis explores this sometimes conflicting intersection of religion, gender and sexuality, while suggesting new directions for future studies in RE and CSE.


Tetranychus truncatus is the predominant species of spider mite infesting vegetable crops in Kerala (Bennur et al., 2015). The mite management in Kerala largely depends on the use of synthetic acaricides. However, extensive use of synthetic pesticides over decades has led to several adverse effects on environment and non-target organisms. Plants and plant-based products are receiving considerable attention worldwide for their utilization and applications in pest management. The Mexican marigold, Tagetes minuta L. (Asteraceae), has been reported to contain the chemicals 5-(3-buten-1-ynyl) 2, 2-bithienyl and alpha therthienyl, which have pesticidal properties (Morallo-Rejesus and Decena, 1982). A laboratory study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of Tagetes minuta against the spider mite, Tetranychus truncatus. The solvent extracts (hexane, chloroform and water) of T. minuta were evaluated separately against eggs and gravid females of T. truncatus at five different concentrations viz., 0.025, 0.05, 0.1,0.15 and 0.2 per cent. To evaluate the ovicidal effect, ten gravid females were released on mulberry leaf bit (5×5 cm) placed in Petri plate lined with moistened cotton and allowed for egg laying. The adults were removed after 24 h and 25 eggs were retained per leaf bit.  The solvent extracts were applied on the leaf bits with eggs using hand atomizer and observed for egg hatchability at 24, 48, 72 and 96 h of spraying and per cent mortality of egg was calculated. To evaluate the adulticidal activity, mulberry leaf bits were dipped in solvent extracts for 30 seconds, air dried and placed in a Petri plate lined with moistened cotton. Twenty-five gravid females were released to the leaf bit and adult mortality was recorded after 24, 48, 72, 96 and 120 h of treatment and per cent mortality was calculated. The extracts varied significantly in their ovicidal and adulticidal effects. Among the different extracts, 0.2 % hexane extract was found to be significantly superior in ovicidal activity over other treatments and recorded 100 per cent mortality at 120 h after treatment. This was followed by 0.15 and 0.1 per cent hexane extracts which recorded 81.33 and 53.33 per cent egg mortality, respectively. The hexane extracts 0.2 % and 0.15 % were found to be significantly superior over other treatments, recording 93.33 and 92 per cent adult mortality, respectively within 120 h of application. This was followed by 0.2 % chloroform and 0.1 % hexane extracts, recording 73.33 and 72.00 per cent mortality, respectively. These results indicate that Mexican marigold possess excellent acaricidal properties and the hexane and chloroform extracts of the plant can be explored for further utilization in the management of spider mites.


In this article there are being analyzed the natural and social economic structures of Lithuanian coastal strip. The research is based on survey about the hindrances and proposed suggestions for sustainable development. There are presented authors' results about geographic profile of Lithuania's coastal region, degree of exploitation and processes of spatial planning, suggestions for improvement of sustainable development of coastal strip. There are distinguished the types of bad examples as institutional, projects related, shortage of financial issues, private housing and the types of good examples as legislative, institutional, projects related, NGOs related for exploitation and sustainable development of coastal strip.


Novel polyimide–copper complexes (PICuCs) with a high dielectric constant of up to 133 were prepared by polymerization, complexation and imidization of a newly synthesized bipyridine-containing diamine monomer. The PICuCs showed high dielectric constant because of the enhanced electronic depolarization. Moreover, the PICuCs presented better mechanical and thermal properties than neat PI, which are promising materials for polymer film capacitors.


Modalities for production of inactivated rabies vaccine derived from diploid hamster cell cultures are reported. The inactivated concentrated virus, purified by zonal centrifugation, is utilised for the preparation of vaccines destinated to carnivores, either in the form of monovalent vaccine or associated with distemper and canine contagious hepatitis vaccines. The inactivated concentrated virus is utilised for the preparation of bovine vaccine. The procedure is compatible with industrial production. The results concerning safety and potency tests of the experimental lots are presented.